New Front Office Optimism
Much of the Lakers front office dissolved in 2017 due to a lack of cooperation and a failure of the recent Buss regime. For years, Jerry Buss, arguably the most powerful and successful owner in all of sports history, was in many ways the puppet holder of the NBA.
After years of the Celtics placing a stronghold in professional basketball, Buss wrote the checks of 10 NBA championships over three distinct eras of Lakers basketball. Unfortunately, he passed away due to medical issues including a battle with cancer. His son and daughter, Jim and Jeanie Buss, assumed the position of a dual ownership.
The basketball relationship between the two never clicked. The Lakers looked like an unstable franchise, which was in one of many reasons why Carmelo Anthony re-signed with the Knicks in 2014 and so on. Jim Buss also pushed Kupchak to sign Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng to “continue to contend” for a championship.
Jeanie pulled the hammer on February 20, 2017, when she hired Laker legend Magic Johnson to be president of basketball operations and Rob Pelinka, Kobe Bryant’s agent, to the general manager role, replacing her brother and former general manager Mitch Kupchak as a result. The Lakers only have one major goal this offseason, and this could change the landscape of how management is built in the NBA.